Thinking about trade school

[biblicalbro]

I'm currently trying to look into it. Any solid recommendations? Or if you're already doing a trade, would you please share your experience? Thanks!

 

[Albion]

Many people are saying--government agencies included--that this is what the country needs. So the opportunities would seem to be there, all right, and at less cost than a college degree.

 

[JohnAshton]

HVAC, welding, entry medical (CNA, LVN) are all excellent alternatives to college.

 

[Endeavourer]

I'm currently trying to look into it. Any solid recommendations? Or if you're already doing a trade, would you please share your experience? Thanks!

Are you young enough to join the Air National Guard?

My daughter joined at 18. Before she was 19 she graduated with cyber security training, including a Security Plus certification (very valuable for both civilian and government employment) and was being interviewed for $60k/year jobs when she was 19.

She had free housing, free food and a full time paycheck for the duration of her training. Further, in her state, the state will pay college tuition (or more trade school tuition) in FULL if she wants to continue on to pursue a degree.

Her career field had a $20,000 sign on bonus, so she will have a tidy sum saved towards a down payment on a house, too.

You can live where ever you want for the Air National Guard. You only need to work at the base 1 weekend a month, plus two weeks per year so you can have a very profitable civilian job as your full time work. Nearly all employers will give you the two weeks off (without counting it as vacation time) - most even make up the difference in pay so you don't lose out financially when you do your two weeks.

It's a GREAT deal for someone looking for a career change.

 

[Silverback]

I'm currently trying to look into it. Any solid recommendations? Or if you're already doing a trade, would you please share your experience? Thanks!

After I retired from the US Navy in 2003, I continued to directly work in the field the Navy trained me for. However, at 50 years old having worked taking care of sick people for 32 straight years, and realizing I still had 12 to 17 years to work, I decided to go to TECH School. I completed a 22 month program in Automotive Repair, and every person who wanted a job had one before the program ended. I did really well, regrettably, I developed Cancer during the program. The school provided accommodation for me, and I managed to make it through. I was never able to pursue employment in Automotive Repair, without accommodation it's to physically demanding. I still have cancer, I have never been in remission, so now I'm just retired from the US Navy (God's third greatest gift to the world, the first two being his son, and his word).

The top programs in my school for obtaining employment following program completion are.

Automotive Repair
Diesel Repair (vehicles/trucks)
Welding
LPN
Barber
Pharmacy Technician
HVAC

I really enjoyed TECH School, college was not for me, so, it was a good decision.

The Military could provide you with excellent training in any number of technical fields, although, it's not for everyone.

If you don't mind hard work, look into an apprenticeship as a Machinist, if you complete that apprenticeship, you would do well, the average age of a Journeyman Machinist is like 56.

Or, if you could learn to play 3-4 songs on the Bagpipes, you could earn $200 - $250 per funeral...no shortage there either, but that takes some time to learn

 

[biblicalbro]

Are you young enough to join the Air National Guard?

My daughter joined at 18. Before she was 19 she graduated with cyber security training, including a Security Plus certification (very valuable for both civilian and government employment) and was being interviewed for $60k/year jobs when she was 19.

She had free housing, free food and a full time paycheck for the duration of her training. Further, in her state, the state will pay college tuition (or more trade school tuition) in FULL if she wants to continue on to pursue a degree.

Her career field had a $20,000 sign on bonus, so she will have a tidy sum saved towards a down payment on a house, too.

You can live where ever you want for the Air National Guard. You only need to work at the base 1 weekend a month, plus two weeks per year so you can have a very profitable civilian job as your full time work. Nearly all employers will give you the two weeks off (without counting it as vacation time) - most even make up the difference in pay so you don't lose out financially when you do your two weeks.

It's a GREAT deal for someone looking for a career change.

I’m 30. Would that work?

 

[biblicalbro]

After I retired from the US Navy in 2003, I continued to directly work in the field the Navy trained me for. However, at 50 years old having worked taking care of sick people for 32 straight years, and realizing I still had 12 to 17 years to work, I decided to go to TECH School. I completed a 22 month program in Automotive Repair, and every person who wanted a job had one before the program ended. I did really well, regrettably, I developed Cancer during the program. The school provided accommodation for me, and I managed to make it through. I was never able to pursue employment in Automotive Repair, without accommodation it's to physically demanding. I still have cancer, I have never been in remission, so now I'm just retired from the US Navy (God's third greatest gift to the world, the first two being his son, and his word).

The top programs in my school for obtaining employment following program completion are.

Automotive Repair
Diesel Repair (vehicles/trucks)
Welding
LPN
Barber
Pharmacy Technician
HVAC

I really enjoyed TECH School, college was not for me, so, it was a good decision.

The Military could provide you with excellent training in any number of technical fields, although, it's not for everyone.

If you don't mind hard work, look into an apprenticeship as a Machinist, if you complete that apprenticeship, you would do well, the average age of a Journeyman Machinist is like 56.

Or, if you could learn to play 3-4 songs on the Bagpipes, you could earn $200 - $250 per funeral...no shortage there either, but that takes some time to learn

awesome! Thanks for sharing your story! Good to know that you continued on after retirement from the navy.

 

[Endeavourer]

I’m 30. Would that work?

I think so. Contact your local Air National Guard asap as their are age limitations. It used to be 27 but I think it was raised. I think it might still work for you. Let me know what they say!

 

[alsughasoughaiuyfygh]

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[jsimms615]

I'm currently trying to look into it. Any solid recommendations? Or if you're already doing a trade, would you please share your experience? Thanks!

It depends on what you want to do. I know our community college has a lot of short term programs to earn certificates or licenses that would be profitable. Or you could do something in the medical field since there always seems to be a high demand of jobs in that field

 

[Knee V]

I work as an electrician. I have done power generation in the Navy, as well as manufacturing, instrumentation, data acquisition, controls, and now I do electrical maintenance at a steel finishing mill.

Doing electrical work, and depending on what kind of electrical work, has its share of manual work, but also generally can pay pretty well. Instrumentation and controls work, along with some electronics, will generally require the least amount of labor and will generally be among the higher-paying electrical jobs, as it requires more training and experience than pulling wires through a house being built. Doing an electrical apprenticeship to get a Journeyman's license will probably be the most labor-intensive route, and that line of work will keep you doing the most physical work to get a paycheck.

Going to some kind of school for at least an associate's in some kind of industrial electrical/electronics technology is a path that can help to get more pay and avoid the years of harder labor. I didn't go that route; I joined the Navy right out of high school and they trained me to be an electrician (my job was called "Electrician's Mate").

If one wants to get into the industrial electrical world, learning PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers) is very helpful for landing and keeping a good-paying job. What a PLC does is to receive electrical inputs (from things like on/off switches, pressure transducers, temperature sensors, etc etc) and then use the logic that has been programmed into it to determine when it sends outputs; more often than not, the output is an ON command for a motor drive, or a signal to tell the motor how fast to go once it's on.

There is currently a nation-wide shortage of people who have half a clue about electrical stuff, particularly electrical controls in an industrial setting. If you have the ability to do a couple years at someplace like Ivy Tech or some other similar technical school, you will likely never have a problem finding an electrical job. (That is, of course, not a guarantee, and you may have to move to find a good facility to work at.)